There is always some risk of nitrate poisoning, however, if cereal grain hays are harvested after a spurt of growth following a drought period. If you are considering purchasing this type of hay, it can be tested for nitrate content. Legumes used for hay include alfalfa, various types of clover such as red, crimson, alsike and ladino , lespedeza, birdsfoot trefoil, vetch, soybean and cowpeas. Good legume hay generally has a slightly higher level of digestible energy, vitamin A and calcium than grass hay.
Alfalfa may have twice the protein and three times the level of calcium than grass hay. Thus alfalfa is often fed to animals that need more protein and minerals. Nutritional Value of Hay The nutritional value of hay is related to leaf content. The leaves of grass hay have more nutrients and are more digestible when the plant is immature and growing, and more fiber when the plant has reached full growth. Alfalfa stems, for example, are woody, serving as structural support for the plant.
Leaf-to-stem ratio is the most important criterion in judging nutrient quality in an alfalfa plant. The digestibility, palatability and nutrient values are highest when the plant is young—with more leaves and less stems. Coarse, thick-stemmed hay overly mature has more fiber and less nutrition than immature, leafy hay with finer stems. Although there are differences between cuttings, quality is most important.
First-cut alfalfa can be stemmy, but only if it is too mature when harvested. However, weeds tend to appear in first-cut alfalfa hay. Second-cut alfalfa usually has a higher stem-to-leaf ratio but is lower in crude protein—about 16 percent on average. Third-cut alfalfa typically has a higher leaf-to-stem ratio because of slower growth during the cool part of the season. If buying grass hay, maturity at harvest will also make a difference in its nutrient quality.
Early bloom alfalfa cut before the blossoms open has about 18 percent crude protein, compared with 9. Alfalfa cut at full bloom drops to Thus legume hay, cut early, is more apt to meet the protein and mineral needs of young growing, pregnant or lactating animals than will many of the grass hays. Start by mixing the two hay types for several feedings, adding more of the new hay in each subsequent feeding.
Changing to a legume hay suddenly can make an animal sick, or cause a ruminant animal to bloat. This can disrupt the microbes that help the animals digest their feed. Hay for Horses Horses can do well on grass or alfalfa or other legume hay.
Important factors to keep in mind for horse hay are the nutritional needs of the animals mature horses will not need high protein or calcium levels unless they are mares nursing foals , and the way the hay was harvested. If it was rained on after it was cut, baled too green or too wet or too dry, it may not be safe to feed. Hay for horses should never contain dust or mold, as it may lead to coughing and respiratory problems.
Some types of mold may cause colic or can cause a pregnant mare to abort. For pregnant or lactating mares, or young growing horses, some legume hay added to the diet provides the additional protein and higher levels of other nutrients needed. A mix of grass and legume hay often works well. In some regions, it is hard to find good grass hay.
If you must use alfalfa hay for all your horses, be selective in the hay you choose. You may need different qualities of hay for different horses—leafy hay for weanlings, for instance, and more mature hay for adult horses that do not need such fine hay. Particularly fine-stemmed, leafy alfalfa rabbit hay or dairy hay is too rich and palatable for horses they generally overeat on it and does not have enough fiber content for proper digestion.
It is also the most costly alfalfa. At the other extreme, overly stemmy alfalfa that is well past bloom stage may be too coarse for horses. In many geographic regions that get only two or three cuttings of alfalfa per season, first-cutting alfalfa might be the preferred hay for horses.
It is less apt to contain blister beetles which are deadly if eaten , and it often has a little grass mixed in. It also tends to have relatively coarse stems supplying the fiber a horse needs for proper digestion since it grows the fastest.
Later cuttings tend to grow more slowly and the stems are finer and softer. These cuttings are too rich too many nutrients per pound, with very little fiber for most horses, unless you are just adding a little bit of it to the diet of a young orphan foal or an older horse that has poor teeth and cannot chew stemmy hay.
Typically, fresh green pasture does just that, and many baled hays can meet these needs as well. There are many different kinds of roughage that a horse owner can use to feed horses. And it is here that we enter into contentious territory. Sometimes it seems that horse people have as many opinions and feelings about feeding Grass versus feeding Alfalfa as there are horses in the world. Opinions as to which should be fed, when, and what is the right mixture of the two if they are combined.
First off, for the sake of our discussion, we will be using some generalizations that are well accepted in the equine nutrition community. Equi-analytical laboratories analyze feeds for hay producers as well as horse professionals around the country, and their 10 year averages are a good baseline for nutrition values. Alfalfa Hay also known as Legume Hay averages Grass Hay averages Alfalfa Hay is also higher in Calcium, with about 3 times as much as Grass Hay.
This can become important when considering the ideal Calcium:Phosphorus ratio for horses, which should be about The Calcium in Alfalfa is higher, but the Phosphorus is about the same as grass hay, which could lead to an imbalance in the diet of a given horse. In Colorado we tend to have some very good hay of both varieties grown here and a given batch of hay could exceed or undershoot these values, so it is important to remember that they are just generalizations.
They need no premixing and are suitable to be supplied to most horses straight from the bag. The biggest concern is that some horses gobble them down too fast and choke. For horses that are fast eaters, you can mix the pellets with their feed or soak them in water before offering them to your animal. Cubes are too hard for most horses to eat in the form they are bought. Cubes are eaten slower than pellets, which is a good thing.
Many people soak cubes for 30 minutes before feeding. Horses need long-stem forage because of their unique digestive system. So a pound horse would typically consume 20 lb of dry forage in a day.
Alfalfa cubes are chopped and compressed but not pulverized like pellets. If hay is scarce, pellets can be used in conjunction with either of the above two options to replace grass completely, but they cannot be used alone to replace hay completely. Alfalfa pellets and cubes fed wet are good alternatives for horses with dental problems.
Pellets are small and easy for older horses to consume once they have been softened. Pellets and cubes, to a certain extent, are hard, 30 minutes of soaking before feeding make a suitable protein source for horses that have difficulty eating grass or hay because of dental problems.
But most horses in good health get all the protein they need eating grass and hay. Two primary causes of colic in horses is overeating, and diets that include grains or concentrated foods.
If allowed, horses eat more alfalfa cubes and pellets than is healthy. And pellets are concentrated alfalfa hay, which also increases the risk of colic. A horse will likely eat all the alfalfa cubes they have available, but when fed alfalfa hay, they are picky and often waste some. Overeating alfalfa leads to obesity and colic. Pellets have two problems related to colic, overeating, and being a concentrate.
So, I decided to research alfalfa cubes to learn what amount to give our horses each day. The amount of alfalfa cubes you feed a horse is dependant on the size and workload of the animal.
If a horse is in training or working hard, its calorie needs increase. A typical horse weighing 1, lbs. Horses are individuals, and their diet should be adjusted based on their fitness level and body condition.
If you notice your horse losing weight, feeding 1. So I decided to research the benefits of hay over cubes and pellets. Eating hay benefits horses in ways not obtainable by eating pellets or cubes.
For instance, horses fed hay spend more time grazing, which produces saliva, promotes dental and digestive health, and prevents boredom.
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